Muscle perfusion of posterior trunk and lower-limb muscles at rest and during upper-limb exercise in spinal cord-injured and able-bodied individuals

Spinal Cord, 04/27/2012Zafeiridis A et al.

Resting muscle perfusion was reduced in the paralyzed limbs of spinal cord injury (SCI) compared with controls (C), whereas there was no evidence of impaired microcirculation in upper and lower back muscles in SCI. Although arm–cranking exercise (ACE) did not induce a hyperemic response in vastus lateralis (VL), it increased hyperemia in upper and lower posterior trunk muscles in SCI, suggesting beneficial effects of this type of activity on muscle microvasculature in this region.